Truth and Temptation
by Tiny Knight
Summary: Loki finds himself in the past. Oneshot with some Thorki undertones.


Truth and Temptation.

Loki frowned as he surveyed his surroundings. He appeared to be in Asgard, somewhere in the outskirts. Something was off though, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He sighed in irritation, the stupid artefact was playing up on him, he was not attempting to breach Asgard yet, he was not adequately prepared.

The area in which he had landed seemed familiar. Before Loki could figure out what this place was he heard footsteps approaching him, running at some speed. He turned to face the assailant as they came around the corner and ran straight into him. It was only a child, and a small one at that, so they were thrown back at the collision. The boy landed on his back, but quickly recovered, springing up to run off again. Scowling, Loki picked the boy up by the scruff of his collar.

More footsteps, louder and faster this time, but Loki concluded that whoever it was, it was not an adult. Nonetheless, he couldn't afford to be detected, so he concealed himself with magic, and by proxy the child too, who was squirming in his grasp.

"Loki!" shouted an all too familiar voice. But at the same time it was wrong. The voice called again before coming around the corner. That's when Loki saw the voice belonged to Thor, and he froze. Thor was tiny. Thor was still a child. Little Thor looked around frustrated before running off again, shouting Loki's name.

Loki's attention was torn from the child Thor by the boy in his hold, who was once again trying to escape. Loki dropped the boy unceremoniously. The boy turned around to face whoever had dared to treat him in such a way.

Loki stood still and stared at his child self, curious as to what he would do next. The child simply frowned at him and Loki couldn't help but smirk as the boy's annoyance turned to confusion and then realisation at what must be going on.

"Who are you?" he asked, causing Loki to chuckle. He knew his younger self could see exactly who he was, but he wasn't going to ask that, because it sounded stupid, and he hated seeming wrong.

"Exactly who you think I am, little Loki."

"What are you doing here?"

Now that was a question Loki could not answer. He hadn't realised the relic could travel in time, but now he knew he would of course be attempting to master it. Time travel is a very useful ability.

"Travelling. I seem to have missed my mark." Loki told him, which wasn't completely untrue. Besides, there wasn't much point of lying to himself. Sighing he went to leave, he needed to be alone to figure out how to get where he was meant to be, and in the right time. He had taken about three strides when child Loki called out to him.

"Which of us is king?" he asked. Loki stared at the little boy, his eyes swimming with curiosity, but with a hint of hope. "I don't mind if it's Thor, even if he is a bit of an idiot sometimes. I just want to know."

"Neither of us at the moment," Loki replied honestly as Thor had yet to be crowned. "I have a feeling it will be you, though," he smirked. If all goes to plan, which it certainly will, the throne of Asgard will be his. The child Loki looked at the sky, the sun was beginning to set and he would soon need to be home.

"I better go and find my brother," the child Loki explained as he went to leave. Loki was hit with the realisation that little Loki had no idea of the truth. He didn't know all of this was a lie, and that these people weren't his family, but they had taken him as a trophy, another relic from the war. He almost said. He almost stopped the boy and told him about his frost giant heritage, about how the throne will be taken from him and how everything he thought was true was wrong.

But he didn't.

He watched his child self disappear into the distance, calling for his brother. It was because he didn't want to mess up time. Loki was unsure of the consequences of time travel, and something like this could drastically alter his timeline. He had said nothing that should cause any problems, and everything will happen as it is suppose to.

That is what Loki told himself. But deep down, further than Loki cared to look, Loki didn't want to change his childhood. He wanted to experience all of those adventures and he couldn't take the chance of his words altering them. He couldn't risk his memories of Thor, no matter how much he told himself he hated the thunderer now.

**Author's Note: Title is stolen from a song, because I hate making titles. In case it is not obvious, Loki, Thor and Asgard also do not belong to me, and the idea of time travel belongs to all as far as I am concerned. The idea is that Loki chooses between telling himself the truth and the temptation to remain blissfully unaware. I just wanted to write Loki and child Loki meeting, even if it is brief. Anyway, I'll stop now. Reviews are appreciated. **


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